


Practical Magic for Beginners

by exandriantrashpanda (topothesia)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series) RPF
Genre: Bondage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 20:21:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15714399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/topothesia/pseuds/exandriantrashpanda
Summary: When the week started, Liam really wasn’t expecting it to end with him at Taliesin’s apartment while Taliesin carefully arranges an array of restraints on his coffee table like some kind of really weird museum display, but not a whole lot about his life has really gone the way he’s ever planned it. Besides, he tells himself, this is supposed to be useful and educational.





	Practical Magic for Beginners

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for a prompt on the Critical Kink meme. Thanks for that, prompter!
> 
> Thanks also to the Critter who read snippets of this as I was writing it and provided encouragement. <3 <3

When the week started, Liam really wasn’t expecting it to end with him at Taliesin’s apartment while Taliesin carefully arranges an array of restraints on his coffee table like some kind of really weird museum display, but not a whole lot about his life has really gone the way he’s ever planned it. Besides, he tells himself, this is supposed to be useful and educational. 

Ostensibly Taliesin has offered to educate Liam about the different types of restraints after watching Liam yet again fail to understand the size difference between handcuffs and manacles during a moment in their game. Liam has accepted this kind offer because it would be a good thing to know for use in future games that he plays in or DMs, and Taliesin just happens to have a rather extensive collection that he’d be willing to show Liam, and so here they are, and clearly nothing else is going to happen tonight. 

“Are you going to ask me to get naked so I can try these on?” Liam asks, trying to make it sound like a joke.

“Oh, we don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time,” Taliesin says smoothly. “Besides, if we do, that’s what these are for,” and holds up a pair of round-tipped shears that wouldn’t be out of place in an ambulance or an emergency room. 

“Would that really be necessary?” Liam asks, although the image of him restrained to Taliesin’s bed while Taliesin meticulously cuts his clothes off piece by piece is now refusing to leave his mind. 

“Who said anything about necessary?” Taliesin asks. “I just think it might be fun.”

Liam blushes, and Taliesin laughs (not unkindly) before saying, “Actually, everyone should have a pair of these close to hand if they’re using rope or tape to restrain someone or for any other purpose, just in case you really need to get someone out quickly.”

“Good to know,” Liam says, surprised at how the conversation has suddenly taken a turn for the practical again. Maybe this really just is an educational session after all. 

“Cutting people’s clothes off is just a nice bonus,” Tal says, and winks at Liam, and Liam feels his face flush again. 

“Right,” Liam says, trying to get his expressive face under control before it betrays him completely. 

Taliesin grins, obviously enjoying Liam’s discomfiture just a little, before clearing his throat and saying, “However, since you wanted to improve your knowledge of more solid types of  restraints more commonly found in the adventurer’s bag of holding, let us turn our attention there.” He gestures towards the coffee table display. “Go on, pick them up and handle them. They don’t bite.”

_ But maybe you will if I ask nicely? _ Liam thinks but carefully does not say as he reaches for a set of metal handcuffs. They’re solid, and surprisingly heavier than he thought they would be.

“These aren’t props,” he says. 

“No, but they are quick release if you know the trick,” Taliesin says. “What, were you expecting me to have the fluffy plastic cheetah print ones from Spencer’s?”

Liam laughs. “No. I just...hadn’t thought about it this way before.”

“Quality tools for quality work,” Taliesin says, and Liam has to fight to restrain his facial expressions again as he pictures the kind of work that can be done with such tools. Could be done. On him. He fiddles with the cuffs, not unlocking them, but shifting them back and forth between his hands, noting the weight, trying to distract himself. 

“Anyhow,” Tal continues smoothly, as if he hasn’t noticed Liam’s reactions at all, picking up a pair of manacles and holding them up over the cuffs that Liam is holding in his hands, “here is a pair of manacles, and as you can clearly see, there are several differences between them. They’re larger, they’re heavier, there’s more freedom of movement because they have a longer chain, and they’re more commonly used to restrain people’s legs or ankles.” He concludes his short lecture by draping the manacles over Liam’s forearms so that he can feel the difference in weight and get a closer look, and Liam shivers briefly at the contact. 

“That’s...very helpful,” Liam says, clearing his throat and attempting to focus on noting the differences. 

“Of course, there are many other types of restraints in this category,” Tal says, continuing to explain as if Liam is nothing more than academically interested in this topic. “Different sizes, different amounts of give, more or less useful for holding people in certain positions or holding people to other people, ones that can be used alone or in combination with more rigid devices like spreader bars…” He gestures towards the collection on the table, pointing out the differences, completely ignoring the variety of expressions crossing Liam’s face, acting as if he totally can’t imagine what Liam could possibly be thinking. 

Liam nods politely as Taliesin continues to helpfully explain restraints to him, wondering if he has drastically improved his poker face, if Taliesin is being polite by ignoring the fact that Liam is obviously getting turned on by this experience, or if Taliesin is taking sadistic pleasure in tormenting Liam by pretending that he isn’t noticing Liam’s reactions. He’s pretty sure it’s got to be one of the latter two. 

“Any questions?” Taliesin asks, sounding so academic that Liam half expects to see him in clad in a tweed jacket with reading glasses perched on his nose.

“Will this be on the quiz?” Liam says teasingly, falling back on humor in the hopes of distracting himself. 

“No, but there is a lab section offered after the lecture,” Taliesin says archly. “This is an applied subject, after all.”

Liam both grins and winces at the innuendo. “Am I registered for that? I’d better check my schedule.”

“I believe you are, but you’ll have to pass the lab safety quiz before you can use any of the equipment,” Taliesin says. 

Liam looks a little confused. “Safety quiz?” He’s wondering if he missed a subject change and if they’re now reminiscing about high school chemistry lab and not discussing, well, the other kind of chemistry. 

“There are three questions,” Taliesin continues smoothly. “First: do you genuinely want me to restrain you? Second: what can and can’t I do to you, or the two of us do together? Third: how will you let me know if and when you need me to pause or stop or let you go?”

“Oh,” Liam says, blinking. Suddenly it doesn’t seem like a cute joke anymore. 

“Look, Liam, if you just wanted to know how handcuffs and manacles compared, I’m sure you could have looked that up on the Internet or visited any of the fine establishments in our lovely city which still sell such items. I pretty much assumed that you took me up on my offer to show you mine because you also wanted to find out what it’s like to have them used on you. But, if my assumptions are incorrect, well, I apologize,” Taliesin says.

Liam swallows. “They’re, uh, they’re not.” 

“Based on the way you’ve been acting for the last fifteen minutes, I didn’t think so,” Taliesin continues. “However, while we can have a lot of fun with them, people can and do get hurt in non-fun ways if they’re not careful. I apologize if this kills some fantasy you were having about you ending up naked and chained without ever having to explicitly say so, but I’m not doing anything to you without talking to you first.”

“Is it wrong that I found what you just said to be really hot?” Liam asks. 

“Negotiation can be a kink for some people,” Taliesin says, chuckling. 

“Also, what if I don’t know what I want?” Liam asks. “I mean, I’ve never done this before.”

“Do you know what you don’t want?” Taliesin asks. “We can start from there.”

“I don’t think I actually want you to cut my clothes off. At least not tonight,” Liam says, considering. 

“It’s actually kinda tedious to get through multiple layers safely when I do,” Taliesin says, “But there’s a start. Anything else?”

Liam can’t believe he’s having this conversation, and yet he continues to keep answering Taliesin’s questions openly and honestly, even asking some of his own, feeling a thread of anxiety and arousal beginning to spool tight inside him as their discussion continues.

Before he knows it, Taliesin says, “Well, I’m ready if you are.” He stands up from the couch and holds a hand out to Liam to help him get up. “We could do this here, but I think we’ll both be more comfortable in the bedroom.” 

“Just one more thing,” Liam says.

Hm?” Taliesin says, scooping some things off the coffee table to take with them.

“Please don’t ask me how do I want to do this?” Liam says. “I just can’t take that phrase seriously out of context anymore.”

Taliesin laughs so hard that he almost drops the restraints he’s holding. “Oh, I’m going to have fun with you.”

And then they’re in the bedroom, and Liam is torn between wanting to continue and coming up with some plausible excuse to flee and then pretend like this never happened. Taliesin looks at Liam, easily reading the changing expressions on his face, and just says, “It’s up to you.”

Liam looks at Taliesin and nods decisively. “Then let’s do this.”

Taliesin returns Liam’s gaze and nod, and a spark seems to kindle in his eyes that wasn’t quite there before. Liam is suddenly very aware of the full weight of Taliesin’s interest and expertise coming to bear on him in a way they never have before.  _ Sometimes I wonder if those jokes about him being an Ancient One really are just jokes. Or maybe he actually is a magician… _ Liam thinks. 

“So what first?” Liam asks. 

“I know you said you don’t want to be naked for this, but it would be easier and more comfortable to put the cuffs on your wrists if you took your shirt off,” Taliesin says, gesturing at Liam’s long-sleeved black henley. “But if you really don’t want to, I can make it work. Also, I’m definitely going to need you to take off your shoes if you want the manacles on.”

Liam nods again at this practical request, even if in his mind he thinks he was thinking that if this were like some of the fiction that he’s read, Taliesin would be ordering him to strip. He sits down on the edge of the bed and quickly tugs his shirt up and over his head and then bends over to untie and remove his boots and socks. Now wearing only his jeans, he looks up at Taliesin, who crosses over and picks up Liam’s discarded clothing and places them on a chest at the foot of the bed.

“All right?” Taliesin asks. 

“We haven’t even done anything yet,” Liam protests.

Taliesin just quirks an eyebrow at him and then picks up a pair of handcuffs, and Liam shuts his mouth. 

“Do you want your arms cuffed behind your back or do you want them above your head?” Taliesin asks, walking over to sit next to Liam on the bed. 

“Above my head,” Liam says, feeling that nervous energy coil tight again. 

“Lie back,” Taliesin says, and waits for Liam to arrange himself on the bed. 

Then Taliesin kneels on the bed next to Liam and says “Arms above your head, palms up” and snaps the handcuffs around Liam’s wrists. 

“They’re  _ cold, _ ” Liam says with surprise.

“They’re metal,” Taliesin says. “If you want something more warm and fluffy, I can get some padded ones out instead.”

“No, I...this is fine,” Liam says, not quite wanting to admit out loud that the feeling of the cold metal on his warm skin is a good combination of sensations for him. 

“Wiggle your fingers,” Taliesin says, and Liam complies. Taliesin gives a satisfied nod and moves down the bed, leaving Liam still trying to process all of the competing sensations and thoughts that he’s having. 

When he reaches the end of the bed, Taliesin picks up the pair of manacles that he’d originally shown Liam and contemplates the position of Liam’s legs briefly, gently but firmly taking his right one and shifting it a little closer before cuffing his ankles. Liam shivers as he feels the weight of the second one clasp into place and he realizes exactly what he’s gotten himself into.

“Too cold?” Taliesin asks.

“Uh, no,” Liam says.

“Didn’t think so,” Taliesin says, trying to repress a smirk and failing. 

“So, now that you’ve restrained me, is the next part when you put a box over me and attempt to saw me in half?” Liam says teasingly. Part of him realizes that perhaps it’s not a good idea to joke with the person who’s just rendered you unable to escape, and yet he can’t help it. 

Taliesin laughs and says “I knew you were going to be fun. But if you want magic like that, you’ll have to turn to one of our other friends instead. Maybe one of them will even turn you into a tiger if you ask nicely. I know several of them could teach you how to get out of these as well,” he says, tapping on the cuff on Liam’s left wrist.

Liam mock sighs. “I suppose this will have to do.” He’d gesture if his hands weren’t restrained above his head, and again he notices how odd it feels to have that ability taken away from him. 

“Bit of a weird feeling, isn’t it?” Taliesin asks, and Liam realizes that Taliesin has been reading his facial expressions again.  _ Or maybe he really is a wizard _ , Liam wonders. 

“Yeah,” Liam says. He’s been restrained for roles before, the most memorable one being the straightjacket shoot for  _ Madness _ , but that was a prop and there was a whole crew present and he was way more focused on pretending to be Emmett and hitting his marks in the impossibly tiny hallway set and trying not to sweat through all of his makeup than on what being restrained was actually like. Plus they had to shoot all five of them as quickly as possible, so none of them were really savoring the moment. 

“It was for me the first time too,” Taliesin says.

“You’ve let people do this to you?” Liam asks, surprised.

“Of course,” Taliesin says. “I generally don’t do things to other people that I haven’t tried myself. And if someone wants to use the cuffs on me, I’m usually willing as long as I’m sure we’ll be safe,” he says. 

“Oh,” Liam says.

“What, did you want to restrain me instead?” Taliesin says. “I should have asked.”

“No, I... prefer it this way,” Liam says. 

“I thought you might,” Taliesin says, gazing down at Liam with that gleam of focused interest in his eyes, and Liam suddenly feels simultaneously very vulnerable and very aroused. Ordinarily he’d rub his face, but since he can’t, he settles for worrying his lower lip with his top teeth. 

“How does it feel?” Taliesin asks gently, but somehow it still feels like a command.

“Weird? Not bad-weird, just…odd. But pleasantly so. Like anything could happen to me, and yet I’d probably be okay with that as long as it was you,” Liam says, surprising himself with his honesty. 

“Good,” Taliesin says. “I appreciate your candor. To reciprocate, I’ll let you know that watching you nibble your lip like that is making me really want to bite it myself.”

“You should,” Liam says, feeling another wave of arousal sweep through him at the thought. 

Taliesin slides onto the bed next to Liam, and then leans down. He kisses Liam first, softly, almost sweetly, sucking Liam’s lower lip into his mouth and swiping gently with his tongue before sinking in his teeth with gentle pressure. Liam can’t do anything but react, and he shudders and moans against Taliesin’s mouth. 

Taliesin pulls his head away a little, gazing down at Liam’s flushed face. “You are just lovely,” he purrs. 

Liam actually blushes. “Thank you,” he says softly. 

“Shall I bite you some more?” Taliesin asks contemplatively. “We did agree that none of our activities should leave marks that would be awkward to explain later, but I don’t have to leave bruises on that pretty skin of yours.”

Even though Liam remembers specifically telling Taliesin that he doesn’t want to get marked up (because even though they both know he’s here, he really doesn’t want to provide even more evidence for his wife and by Sam to use in teasing him mercilessly even though he knows they will no matter what), right now he’s having trouble remembering exactly why he was so insistent about it. 

“Yeah,” he says, probably a little too eagerly. “But would you kiss me again first?”

“Of course,” Taliesin says, and leans back in. They kiss for a while, soft and slow moving to harder and faster, and Liam idly wishes that he could run his hands through Taliesin’s hair or his nails up Taliesin’s back while they do. It’s odd to be unable to do anything but use his mouth to react, to not quite be in control and to just have to take whatever Taliesin gives him.  

Taliesin pulls back briefly and says, “Odd not being able to use your hands, isn’t it?”

“You actually are some kind of mind reader, Jaffe,” Liam says, laughing. 

“You have really obvious tells, and I’ve got a lot of experience,” Taliesin says, sliding down and beginning to lick and nibble at the side of Liam’s neck, scraping his teeth hard enough to make Liam moan but not hard enough to leave evidence behind. 

“I’m glad to be the beneficiary of your... experience,” Liam says, his patter faltering as Taliesin’s tongue and teeth work against one of the pulse points in his neck, causing him to shudder and groan. 

“Oh, it’s not every day that I get to restrain someone like you and have them at my mercy,” Taliesin purrs with just a little edge to his voice. “I’m enjoying myself, I assure you.”

“I suppose I have no choice but to let myself be completely at your mercy. Oh, no, don’t throw me in this briar patch,” Liam says teasingly.

“Such a smart mouth you have,” Taliesin says, laughing. “I think I’m going to try to make you unable to think such complex thoughts for a while.”

“You can certainly try,” Liam says, doing his best Matt imitation. 

“I see you’re already proving a challenge,” Taliesin says, placing his mouth over Liam’s again in an attempt to stop him from speaking again. 

It’s always been hard for Liam to get out of his head when his own smaller world and the larger one he lives in are both so full of things that keep him awake at night and anxious during the day. He wasn’t expecting being restrained would help move him so quickly into a place where he’s not really thinking much at all, although the ways Taliesin is using his mouth and tongue and teeth and hands on his face and neck and chest are also probably a good portion of why it’s working so well. He was expecting to feel frustrated by the whole experience, but he feels paradoxically free now that all he can do is be present and take what he’s given. 

“All right?” Taliesin murmurs, lifting his head from Liam’s left nipple.

“Oh, yeah,” Liam murmurs dreamily, his eyes slightly glazed over as Taliesin gazes down at him.

Taliesin looks at Liam appraisingly and laughs softly. “Oh, now that’s more like it. Wiggle your fingers and toes again, please,” he says. Liam does, although he’s not really sure why, since he feels fine, although the world is now delightfully fuzzy around the edges.  

Taliesin slides his hands up Liam’s denim-covered thighs, brushes fingertips over the obvious bulge in Liam’s jeans, and Liam squirms. 

“Yes?” Taliesin says. 

“Really not sure why I’m still wearing pants,” Liam says, giggling a little. 

“Because you wanted to keep them on when we started, and then didn’t ask me to take them off you,” Taliesin says. 

“Oh,” Liam says. “You totally should. Uh, please?”

“Now, if I really were a magician, I could just wave my hands and make them disappear,” Taliesin jokes as he unbuttons Liam’s jeans and slides them and his underwear down his legs, leaving them where they won’t get tangled in the chain of the manacles, but enough to allow him more access and give Liam what he asked for. 

Liam’s dreamy giggles turn into shivers as the cooler room air touches his hard and aching cock. 

“So lovely,” Taliesin says again. “I’m going to touch you some more.” He pauses just a moment to see if Liam objects, but Liam only wriggles needily -- delightfully, from Taliesin’s perspective -- instead.

Taliesin strokes soft fingertips up and down Liam’s inner thighs, gentle caresses that are almost ticklish, and Liam squirms and makes a soft sound of frustration. 

“Hm?” Taliesin asks. “Did you want something else?”

“More?” Liam asks. Making complex sentences seems to be beyond him at the moment. 

“More? More what?” Taliesin says lightly, acting as if he has no possible idea what Liam could be asking for.  “More of this?” he asks, dragging his fingernails slowly up the insides of Liam’s thighs with firm pressure. 

Liam moans loudly and shivers again. 

“Or more of this?” Taliesin says, cupping his hand lightly around Liam’s cock and stroking up just once.

Liam moans again and shudders needily, whimpering as Taliesin moves his hand away. 

“Or more of this?” Taliesin says, still calmly, before moving his head down to lick up the underside of Liam’s cock. 

“Yes, that, fuck, please,” Liam groans, writhing, thrusting up in an attempt to chase more sensation.

Taliesin laughs throatily. “Whatever happened to that smart mouth?” he asks rhetorically, lightly swirling his thumb against the underside of the head of Liam’s cock. “Hm. For my next trick, let’s see if we can get you to forget words entirely for a while. Shall we begin?”

“Yes,” Liam says a little slurrily. Taliesin laughs again, and then lowers his mouth back over Liam’s cock. 

Taliesin slowly but surely uses his mouth and hands to deftly take Liam completely and utterly apart. He doesn’t exactly tease Liam, but he takes his time, upping the pace with exquisite care, paying attention to Liam’s reactions, repeating and varying his methods to see what causes the most reaction. Liam has no choice but to let it happen, and it’s glorious.  

By the time he comes all over Taliesin’s hand with a high sharp cry, Liam is completely incoherent, feeling like he is a creature of nothing but sensation. 

“Oh, you are a delight,” Taliesin murmurs, reaching for a tissue to wipe his fingers. “So lovely.”

Liam sighs happily, flopped limply on the bed.

Taliesin gently brushes Liam’s sweat-damp hair from his forehead before he gently removes the cuffs and rubs lightly at Liam’s wrists. Liam flexes his fingers almost like he’s discovering that he has them for the first time. Taliesin then moves down to Liam’s ankles and repeats the process, and also drags Liam’s pants off completely so that they don’t serve as an impromptu second set of restraints.

“There now,” Taliesin says. “How are you doing?”

Liam feels really good. A little spacey, a little stiff, kinda like if he’s worked out without warming up properly first, but also really good. “Fine?” he says. “Um...words are still a little difficult right now….” he says, giggling again.

“My trick succeeded, then,” Taliesin says gently, sliding an arm under Liam’s shoulders and helping him sit up. 

“And you said you didn’t know magic,” Liam insists, leaning back against the headboard.

Taliesin brings him a glass of water and insists that he drink it before climbing back into bed next to him and and slinging a companionable arm around him, pulling Liam’s head onto his shoulder. 

“That was a lot of fun for me,” Taliesin says, “Thank you.”

“I feel like I should have done more, well, for you,” Liam says. “Are you sure you don’t want me to...?”

“Well, if you still feel that way next time I could cuff your arms behind your back and you could try to get me off without using your hands,” Taliesin says, “But I think we’ve done enough for now. I have to save some tricks for the next show, after all.” 

"Pencil me in for the role of lovely assistant, then,” Liam says, making them both laugh."


End file.
